St. Hugh of Ambronay October 21

 St. Hugh of Ambronay

Feastday: October 21

Death: 9th century

Benedictine abbot of Ambronay, in Belley, France.

Bl. Giuseppe "Pino" Puglis October 21

 Bl. Giuseppe "Pino" Puglis

Feastday: October 21

Birth: 1937

Death: 1993

Beatified: 25 May 2013, Foro Italico 'Umberto I', Palermo, Sicily by Salvatore De Giorgi (On behalf of Pope Francis)

Blessed Fr. Don Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi was beatified on May 25, a mere 20 years after his martyrdom at the hands of the Sicilian Mafia. His beatification represents a new era of defiance of powerful organized crime families in Italy and around the world.

Don Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi was born on September 15, 1937 in the Palermo neighborhood of Brancaccio, in Palermo, Sicily. His father was a cobbler and his mother made dresses. From this working class home, Puglisi learned the roughness of his crime-ridden neighborhood and refused to participate in the petty criminal activity on the streets.

He joined the seminary at the youthful age of 16, with an aim to become a priest and fight back against rampant crime and corruption.

In 1960, at the age of 23, Puglisi was ordained a priest and sent to work in various parishes. His archbishop, Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini had a passive attitude towards the Mafia, even claiming at one time that they were fictional, and that nobody knew what the Mafia really was. "So far as I know, it could be a brand of detergent," he once denied.

Cardinal Ruffini argued that communism was the greater threat to the people and that the Mafia was simply part of the fabric of local society.

However, Fr. Puglisi was well aware of the Mafia influence in his parish and suggested that Cardinal Ruffini needed to be corrected, albeit he added we "should always criticize it [the Church] like a mother, never a mother in law."

In the years following, he served in various parishes, criticizing the criminal culture and calling on children to attend school and refrain from vice.

Fr. Puglisi was especially renown for his humor as well as his tough stance against the Mafia. He refused money from the organization and denied awarding a contract to repair his church roof to an organization the Mafia "recommended."

In 1990, he had returned to his native Brancaccio and became priest at San Gaetano's Parish. He continued to speak boldly against the Mafia. He asked the authorities to move against known Mafia members and publicly denounced their activities.

He refused to permit known Mafia gangsters from marching at the head of religious processions, a Mafia tradition, and was the first known priest to confront men attempting to do so.

Unable to control him with money or intimidation, Fr, Puglisi became a target for the organization.

On September 15, 1993, two hitmen approached him in front of his parish. Fr. Puglisi spoke his last words, greeting the men saying, "I've been expecting you." One of the men then fired a single bullet at point-blank range, rendering him unconscious.

St. Gebizo October 21

 St. Gebizo

Feastday: October 21

Death: 1087

Benedictine monk, who crowned the king of Croatia. Also called Gerizo, he was a native of Colonge, Germany, and a monk at Monte Cassino, Italy under St. Desiderius, who became Pope Victor III. Gebizo was sent by Pope St. Gregory VII to the coronation in Croatia.

St. Gaspar October 21

 St. Gaspar

Feastday: October 21

Birth: 1786

Death: 1837

Gaspar, who was born in Rome, the son of a chef, in 1786, received his education as a Collegio Romano and was ordained priest in 1808. Shortly after this, Rome was taken by Napoleon's army, and he, with most of the clergy, was exiled for refusing to deny his allegiance to the Holy See. He returned after the fall of Napoleon to find a wide scope for work, as Rome had for nearly five years, been almost entirely without priests and sacraments. In 1815, Gaspar founded the Congregation of the most Precious Blood with the approval of Pope Pius VII. His wish was to have a house in every diocese, and he chose the most neglected and wicked town or district. The kingdom of Naples was in those days a nest of crime of every kind; no one's life or property was safe, and in 1821 the pope asked Gaspar to found six houses there. He was very happy to do this, but he had many difficulties to overcome before it was accomplished. In 1824, the houses of the congregation were opened to young clergy who wished to be trained specially as missionaries. In his lifetime, their work covered the whole of Italy. Journeying from town to town, enduring endless hardships, threatened often even with death, Gaspar always taking the hardest work himself, they preached their message. One of his principles was that everybody should be made to work. He therefore founded works of charity in Rome for young and old, rich and poor of both sexes. He opened the night oratory, where our Lord is worshipped all night by men, many coming to Him, like Nicodemus, by night who would not have the courage to go to confession by day. His last mission was preached in Rome during the cholera outbreak of 1836. Feeling his strength failing, he returned at once to Albano, and made every preparation for death. After the feast of St. Francis Xavier he went to Rome to die. He received the last sacraments on December 28, and he died the same day. Various miracles had been worked by St. Gaspar during his lifetime, and after his death many graces were obtained by his intercession. He was canonized in 1954.

Gaspar Melchior Balthazar del Bufalo (January 6, 1786 – December 28, 1837), also known as Gaspare del Bufalo, was a Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Canonised in 1954 he is liturgically commemorated the 21 October.

Gaspar del Bufalo was born in Rome on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1786.[2] He was baptized that same day and given the name Gaspar Melchior Balthazar, the traditional names of the magi who visited the child Jesus. The son of Annunziata and Antonio del Bufalo, he grew up in the city of Rome, in the servants' quarters of a noble family, where his father worked as chef.[3]

His father was a failed entrepreneur who had dabbled in the theater and in professional soccer[4] before taking a position as a cook in the household of the Altieri family, whose palace was across from the Church of the Gesù in Rome.

Because of his delicate health, his pious mother had him confirmed at the age of one and a half years. As he was suffering from an incurable malady of the eyes, which threatened to leave him blind, prayers were offered to St. Francis Xavier for his recovery. Through the influence of his mother he became greatly devoted to St. Francis Xavier, whose relic is prominently displayed on an altar of the Gesù. In 1787, he was recovered and cherished in later life a special devotion to the Apostle of India, and selected him as the special patron of the congregation which he later founded.[5]

St. Gaspar was also active in several ministries. He visited the sick and the poor often and founded a young persons’ religious organization whose members prayed and did charitable work together.[4] He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in the diocese of Rome in 1808.[3] Soon after Gaspar formed an evening society for the laborers and farm workers who came into Rome from the countryside to sell their wares. He provided catechism for orphans and children of the poor and set up a night shelter for the homeless.

Along with other clergy who refused to take the oath of allegiance to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1809 after the deportation of Pope Pius VII, he was sent into exile to northern Italy and imprisoned for four years. Upon his return to Rome in 1814, he considered joining the Jesuits, who had recently been reestablished. However, in view of the needs of the time and at the request of Pius VII, he engaged in the ministry of preaching missions to the people in order to reestablish some order in the midst of the chaos of the time.[3]

Gaspar

Despite facing considerable difficulties, in 1815 he founded a society of priests, the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, at the abbey of San Felice in Giano, Umbria.[6] With the help of local people, Gaspar worked to repair the abandoned 10th century monastery.[4]

The year 1821 was a time of great lawlessness in the Papal States and many towns were out of the control of the civil authorities. Bandits controlled many of the towns in the coastal provinces. Cardinal Cristaldi, papal treasurer and advisor to Pope Pius VII, suggested that Gaspar and his new band of missionaries go into the towns and provinces where the bandits lived and establish mission houses. There they were to preach the Word, establish churches and chapels, and see to the continued instruction of the people. Between 1821 and 1823 six new mission houses were opened. Gaspar and his companions went out and preached the merits of the Precious Blood. They called the people to repentance and to return to faithfulness. They would preach on the street corners at night. They instructed the children. Armed with only the crucifix, they went into the hills,[7] where Gaspar negotiated a peace with the banditi.[4]

This statue in Saint Mary Church (Philothea, Ohio) depicts St. Gaspar preaching.

Although Gaspar was very popular in his native city, he was not without enemies. His activity in converting the "briganti", who came in crowds and laid their guns at his feet after he had preached to them in their mountain hiding-places, excited the ire of the officials who profited from brigandage through bribes and in other ways. These enemies almost induced Leo XII to suspend del Bufalo.[5]

He also faced ecclesiastical opposition. One major objection to the new society was that its name, The Society of the Precious Blood, was considered unecclesiastical. Gaspar was accused of disregarding canon law and the mission cross and chain that the members wore was completely untraditional. This opposition began under the reign of Pope Pius VII (around 1820) who had been a strong support of the society at its founding in 1815.[6] This opposition became so strong that the successor to Pius VII, Leo XII, was positively adverse to the community. It is noted that this was at a time when Gaspar was being more and more open in his criticism of abuses in the Church and the government of the Papal States. St. Gaspar felt that this opposition was more of a personal attack on himself and so he offered to step down as moderator of the community so that things could be smoothed over. Fortunately, this was not needed as the situation with Leo XII was resolved after a meeting between the two of them.[7]

His missionary efforts were extremely dramatic. One contemporary, the Passionist priest and bishop St. Vincent Strambi, described his preaching as being "like a spiritual earthquake." He was also a friend of St. Vincent Pallotti, founder of the Pallotines, who assisted at Gaspar's deathbed. He is particularly known for his devotion to the Precious Blood of Christ and for spreading this devotion during his lifetime.

Until his death on December 28, 1837, he worked tirelessly to re-evangelize central Italy, especially the Papal States. He was well known for his eloquence in preaching, his devotion to the poor (especially the Santa Galla Hospice in Rome), and his work with the brigands of southern Lazio.

In 1836, his strength began to fail. He had given his last mission in Rome at the Chiesa Nuova in 1837. Although fatally ill, he hastened to Rome, where the cholera was raging, to administer to the spiritual wants of the plague-stricken. He returned to Albano but went again to Rome at the suggestion of Cardinal Franzoni, the cardinal protector of the Congregation, in December 1837. It proved too much for him, and he succumbed in the midst of his labours on December 28, 1837.[5]

His funeral was held in Rome at the church of Sant'Angelo in Pescheria, near the Teatro di Marcello, and he was buried in Albano. Later, his body was transferred to the house of the Missionaries on the Via dei Crociferi in Rome (Santa Maria in Trivio), where it remains today.

The titles accorded to him by his contemporaries:"II Santo", "Apostle of Rome", "Il martello dei Carbonari" (Hammer of Italian Freemasonry).[5]

Veneration

Statue of S. Gaspare del Bufalo, Collegio Preziosissimo Sangue, Rome

A first-class relic from the forearm of Gaspar del Bufalo on display at St. Charles Seminary in Carthagena, Ohio

Saint Gaspar del Bufalo was beatified by Pope Pius X in 1904,[6] and canonized by Pope Pius XII on June 12, 1954. His feast day, as indicated in the Roman Martyrology, is on the day of his death, December 28, but has not been included in the General Roman Calendar. Currently Saint Gaspar del Bufalo's feast day is celebrated on October 21.[clarification needed]

St. Dasius October 21

 St. Dasius

Feastday: October 21

Death: 303

Martyr with Gaius, Zoticus, and companions at Nicomedia.There were fifteen soldiers in this group

St. Condedus October 21

St. Condedus

Feastday: October 21

Condedus, d.685 Probably a Briton, he became a hermit at Fontaine Saint Valery, France and then a Benedictine monk at Fontenelle. After a time there, he resumed his eremitical life on the island of Belcinae in the Seine near Caudebec, and when King Thierry III granted him the island for a hermitage, he built two chapels on it. He is also known as Conde or Condede. His feast day is October 21st.

St. Cilinia October 21

 St. Cilinia

Feastday: October 21

Death: 458

The mother of St. Principius and St. Remigius, who died at Laon, France.

St. Berthold October 21

 St. Berthold

Feastday: October 21

Death: 1111

Benedictine lay brother. An Anglo-Saxon by descent, Berthold was born in Parma, Italy, where his parents resided. They had left England because of the Norman conquest. Berthold spent his entire life in the service of the nuns of St. Alexander Convent in Parma.

St. Astericus October 21

 St. Astericus

Feastday: October 21

Death: 223

 

Martyr priest who buried the remains of Pope St. Callistus after the pontiff's execution by the Romans.Asterius was arrested for this pious act and drowned in the Tiber River at Ostia, Italy. His remains are enshrined in the cathedral of that city.

St. Agatho October 21

 St. Agatho

Feastday: October 21

Death: 4th Century

Early Christian hermit and abbot. Agatho lived in the Egyptian desert. He is mentioned frequently in the Lives of the Fathers of the Desert. Such saints evolved the modern monastic ideals in their own eras, using the Egyptian wilderness as their hermitage.

புனித_வென்டலின் (554-617)அக்டோபர் 21

புனித_வென்டலின் (554-617)

அக்டோபர் 21

இவர் ஸ்காட்லாந்து நாட்டின் இளவரசர். இவரது தந்தை ஸ்காட்லாந்தை ஆண்டு வந்த ஃபோர்சதோ, தாய் அயர்லினா என்பவர் ஆவர்.

தனக்கு மறைக்கல்வி கற்றுக்கொடுத்த ஆயர் வழியாக இறைவன்மீது மிகுந்த பற்றுக்கொண்டு வாழ்ந்த இவர், ஒருநாள் எல்லாவற்றையும் துறந்துவிட்டு, கால்நடையாகவே புனித நாடுகளுக்குச் சென்றார்‌. 

574 ஆம் ஆண்டு உரோமைக்கு வந்த இவர், அங்கிருந்த திருத்தந்தை முதலாம் பெனடிக்டைச் சந்தித்து அவரிடம் ஆலோசனை கேட்டார். அவர் சொன்ன ஆலோசனை பேரில் இவர் ஒரு துறவியாக வாழத் தொடங்கினார்.

இதற்குப் பிறகு இவர் மக்கள் கொடுத்த உணவை உண்டு, அவர்கள் நடுவில் போதித்தும், இறைவேண்டல் செய்தும் வந்தார். இப்படிப்பட்ட நேரத்தில் ஒருவர் இவரிடம், "கையும் காலும் நன்றாகத்தானே இருக்கின்றன, பிறகு எதற்கு அடுத்தவரிடம் இரந்து உண்கிறாய்?" என்று கேட்டார். இதனால் இவர் ஒரு பெரிய பணக்காரரின் தோட்டத்தில் தோட்ட வேலைகளைச் செய்து, அதிலிருந்து கிடைத்த ஊதியத்தில் உண்டு வந்தார்.

நாள்கள் மெல்ல நகர்கையில் தோட்ட வேலையிலேயே முழு நாளும் கழிந்ததால், இவரால் இறைவனிடம் வேண்டுவதற்கு நேரம் ஒதுக்க முடியாமல் போனது. இதனால் இவர் தோட்ட வேலையை விட்டுவிட்டு, ஒருவருடைய ஆடுகளை மேய்க்கத் தொடங்கினார். இப்பொழுது இவருக்கு இறைவனிடம் வேண்டுவதற்கு மிகுதியான நேரம் கிடைத்தது.

இவ்வாறு இவர் தான் செய்த இறைவேண்டலின் மூலம் இறைவனோடு ஒன்றித்திருக்க முடிந்ததால், இறைவார்த்தையை மக்களுக்கு நல்ல முறையில் எடுத்துரைக்க முடிந்தது. பலரும் இவருடைய போதனையைக் கேட்க ஆவலோடு வந்தார்.

இப்படி இறைவேண்டலுக்கும் இறைவார்த்தையை எடுத்துரைப்பதற்கும் சிறந்ததோர் எடுத்துக்காட்டாக விளங்கிய இவர் 617 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.

Holy shepherd and possible hermit, also called Wendelinus. According to tradition, Wendolinus came from Ireland. After years as a shepherd recluse, he may have served as abbot of a monastery near Trier. He has long been venerated at St. Wendel, in Germany.

மறைசாட்சி ஊர்சுலா St.Ursulaநினைவுத்திருநாள் : அக்டோபர் 21

இன்றைய புனிதர்: 

(21-10-2020) 

மறைசாட்சி ஊர்சுலா 

St.Ursula

நினைவுத்திருநாள் : அக்டோபர் 21

பிறப்பு : இங்கிலாந்து (?)

இறப்பு : 3 அல்லது 4 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு, கொலோன்

பாதுகாவல்: கொலோன் மறைமாவட்டம், இளைஞர்கள், ஆசிரியர்கள், அமைதியான மரணம்

ஊர்சுலா ஆங்கிலேயர் அரசர் குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்தவர். சிறுபிள்ளையாக இருக்கும்போதே, துறவிகளுக்குரிய வார்த்தைப்பாடுகளை எடுத்தார். ஆனால் இவரின் தந்தை, செல்வந்தர் ஒருவருக்கு திருமணம் செய்து வைக்க நிச்சயம் செய்தார். ஆனால் ஊர்சுலாவின் இதயம் இறைவனையே நாடியது.

இவர் ஒருமுறை கடலில் பயணம் செய்யும்போது, பலத்த காற்று ஏற்பட்டது. அப்போது தான் சென்ற கப்பலை, கொலோன் நகரை நோக்கி செல்ல ஊர்சுலா கூறவே கப்பலானது கொலோன் நகரை வந்தடைந்தது. அப்போது அழகு வாய்ந்த ஊர்சுலா ஹீனன்கொனிஷ் (Hunnenkönig) என்பவரால் கவரப்பட்டார்.

ஆனால் அவ்வரசனின் விருப்பத்திற்கிணங்க ஊர்சுலா மறுத்தார். இதனால் அவனால் கொலை செய்யப்பட்டதாக வரலாறு கூறுகின்றது. 1106 ஆம் ஆண்டில் இவரின் புனிதப்பொருட்கள் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டு, இவரின் பெயரில் உள்ள ஆலயத்தில் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாகவும் கூறப்படுகின்றது.

செபம்:

நல்ல ஆயனாம் இறைவா! ஊர்சுலா என்ற பெயரை தாங்கியுள்ள அனைவரையும் ஆசீர்வதியும். நல்ல உடல் உள்ள நலன்களை கொடுத்து, வாழ்வை ஆசீர்வதித்து இப்புனிதரின் வழியாக உம் ஆசீர்வாதங்களை நீர் பொழிந்து வழிநடத்த வேண்டுமென்று இறைவா உம்மை மன்றாடுகின்றோம்

---JDH---தெய்வீக குணமளிக்கும் இயேசு /திண்டுக்கல்.

Saint of the Day: (21-10-2020)

Saint Ursula

According to a legend that appeared in the tenth century, Ursula was the daughter of a Christian king in Britain and was granted a three year postponement of a marriage she did not wish, to a pagan prince. With ten ladies in waiting, each attended by a thousand maidens, she embarked on a voyage across the North sea, sailed up the Rhine to Basle, Switzerland, and then went to Rome. On their way back, they were all massacred by pagan Huns at Cologne in about 451 when Ursula refused to marry their chieftain. According to another legend, Amorica was settled by British colonizers and soldiers after Emporer Magnus Clemens Maximus conquered Britain and Gaul in 383. The ruler of the settlers, Cynan Meiriadog, called on King Dionotus of Cornwall for wives for the settlers, whereupon Dionotus sent his daughter Ursula, who was to marry Cynan, with eleven thousand maidens and sixty thousand common women. Their fleet was shipwrecked and all the women were enslaved or murdered. The legends are pious fictions, but what is true is that one Clematius, a senator, rebuilt a basilica in Cologne that had originally been built, probably at the beginning of the fourth century, to honor a group of virgins who had been martyred at Cologne. They were evidently venerated enough to have had a church built in their honor, but who they were and how many of them there were, are unknown. From these meager facts, the legend of Ursula grew and developed. Feast day October 21.

Died : 

21 October 238 in Cologne, Germany

Patronage : 

British Virgin Islands

• Catholic education (especially of girls)

• Cologne, Germany

• holy death

• students, school children

• teachers, educators

• University of Paris

---JDH---Jesus the Divine Healer---

புனிதர் ஹிலாரியன் ✠(St. Hilarion) அக்டோபர் 21

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(அக்டோபர் 21)

✠ புனிதர் ஹிலாரியன் ✠

(St. Hilarion)

மடாதிபதி/ துறவி:

(Abbot/ Anchorite)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 291

தபத்தா, சிரியாவின் தென் காஸா, பாலஸ்தீனம்

(Thabatha, South of Gaza in Syria, Palaestina)

இறப்பு: கி.பி. 371

சைப்ரஸ்

(Cyprus)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

கீழ் ஆர்த்தோடாக்ஸ் திருச்சபைகள்

(Eastern Orthodox Churches)

காப்டிக் திருச்சபை

(Coptic Church)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 21

புனித ஹிலாரியன், தமது வாழ்வின் பெரும்பகுதியை பாலைவனங்களில் கழித்த துறவி ஆவார். இவர், புனித வனத்து அந்தோனியாரை (St. Anthony the Great) முன்னுதாரணமாகக் கொண்டு அவரை பின்பற்றியவர் ஆவார்.

இவரைப் பற்றின தகவல்களின் மூல ஆதாரம் “புனித ஜெரோம்” (St. Jerome) அவர்களின் எழுத்துக்களே ஆகும். சுமார் 390ல், பெத்தலகேமில் ஜெரோம் அவர்களால் ஹிலாரியனின் சரிதம் எழுதப்பட்டது. அதன் பொருளானது, ஹிலாரியன் எங்ஙனம் தமது துறவு வாழ்வினை அர்ப்பணித்தார் என்பதேயாகும்.

ஹிலாரியன், “சிரிய பாலஸ்தீனத்திலுள்ள” (Syria Palaestina) “காஸாவின்” தென் பகுதியிலுள்ள (South of Gaza) “தபத்தா” (Thabatha) எனுமிடத்தில் “பேகன்” (Pagan) இன பெற்றோருக்குப் பிறந்தவர் ஆவார்.

சிறுவன் ஹிலாரியனின் பெற்றோர், தங்களின் மகனைக் கல்வியில் சிறந்தவனாக்க விரும்பி, அக்காலத்தில் கல்விக்குச் சிறந்து விளங்கிய எகிப்து நாட்டின் அலெக்சாந்திரியாவிலுள்ள (Alexandria) இலக்கணகர்த்தா ஒருவரிடம் அணியிலக்கணம் கற்க அனுப்பினர். அங்குச் சென்ற ஹிலாரியனுக்கு அந்நகரின் திரையரங்குகளும், கேளிக்கை விளையாட்டுகளும், ஆடம்பரமான நண்பர்களும் கவர்ச்சியளிக்கவில்லை. ஆனால் அந்நகரின் கிறிஸ்தவர்களின் வாழ்க்கைமுறை அச்சிறுவனை ஈர்த்தது. இவர், அலெக்சான்றியாவிலுள்ள ஒரு இலக்கணவாதியிடம் "அணியிலக்கணம் மற்றும் வாக்கு வன்மை" சம்பந்தமான பாடங்களை வெற்றிகரமாக கற்றுத் தேர்ந்தார். இவர், அலெக்சான்றியாவில் மனம் மாறி, கிறிஸ்தவ மதத்தினை தழுவியதாக தெரிகிறது. பின்னர் ஆலயங்களுக்கு தொடர்ந்து செல்ல ஆரம்பித்தார். புனித ஜெரோம் அவர்களின்படி, இவர் மிகவும் ஒல்லியான, ஆரோக்கியமற்ற உடல்வாகினை கொண்டிருந்தார்.

துறவு வாழ்வின் தொடக்கம்:

புனித ஜெரோம் அவர்கள் எழுதிய சரித்திரத்தின்படி, புனித வனத்து அந்தோனியார், "அவர்களுடைய பெயர் எகிப்தின் எல்லா இன மக்களின் நாவில் இருக்கும்" என்று சொன்னதைக் கேட்டறிந்த ஹிலாரியன், தமது பதினைந்தாம் வயதில் எகிப்தியப் பாலைநிலத்தில் கடும் தவ வாழ்க்கை வாழ்ந்த தூய வனத்து அந்தோணியார் பற்றி எல்லாரும் வியந்து பேசுவதைக் கேட்டார். எனவே புனித வனத்து அந்தோனியாருடன் சேர்ந்து இரண்டு மாதங்கள் வாழ முடிவெடுத்து பாலைநிலம் சென்றார் ஹிலாரியன். ஆனால், புனித வனத்து அந்தோனியாரின் ஆசிரமமானது, நோய்கள் தீர வேண்டியும், பேய் பசாசுகளை ஓட்ட வேண்டியும் வரும் மக்களால் பரபரப்பாகவே இயங்கியது. இதனால், ஹிலாரியன் சில துறவியர்களுடன் தமது ஊரான "தபத்தா" திரும்பினார். அதே சமயம், அவரது பெற்றோர் மரித்துப் போகவே, அவர் தமக்கு சேர வேண்டிய சொத்துக்களை தமது சகோதரர்களுக்கும் ஏழைகளுக்கும் பகிர்ந்தளித்துவிட்டு துறவு வாழ்வினைத் தொடர வேண்டி பாலைவனம் திரும்பினார்.

"மஜோமா"வின் (Majoma) தென்மேற்குப் பகுதியிலுள்ள “காஸா” நகரின் துறைமுக (Gaza) பகுதிக்கு சென்றார். ஒரு பக்கம் கடலும், மறுபக்கம் சதுப்பு நிலத்தையும் கொண்ட அவ்விடம் வழிப்பறிக் கொள்ளையர்கள் நிறைந்தது. இது குறித்து அவரது நண்பர்கள் அவரை எச்சரித்தனர். ஆயினும் அங்கு குச்சிகளால் ஒரு சிறு குடிசை அமைத்து புனித வனத்து அந்தோணியார் போல் கடும் தவ வாழ்வு வாழத் தொடங்கினார் ஹிலாரியன். அடிக்கடி இடத்தை மாற்றினார். இவரிடம் ஒரேயொரு மயிராடையும், புனித வனத்து அந்தோணியார் கொடுத்த தோலாலான ஒரு மேலங்கியுமே இருந்தன.

தினமும் கதிரவன் மறைந்த பின்னர் 15 காய்ந்த அத்திப்பழங்களை மட்டுமே சாப்பிட்டார். சாத்தானின் பிடியிலிருந்து பலரை விடுவித்தார். மேலும் பல புதுமைகளையும் செய்தார். மக்களும் கூட்டம் கூட்டமாய் அவரிடம் வரத் தொடங்கினர். இதனால் தனிமையை நாடி கி.பி. 360ல் மீண்டும் எகிப்து சென்றார். அங்கு புனித வனத்து அந்தோணியார் வாழ்ந்த இடங்களைத் தரிசித்தார். பின்னர் அலெக்சாந்திரியாவுக்கு அருகிலுள்ள “ப்ரூச்சியம்” (Bruchium) சென்றார். ஆனால் ஜூலியன் என்பவர், கிறிஸ்தவத்துக்கு எதிராகக் கிளம்பி இவரைக் கைது செய்ய முயற்சித்தான். இதனால் லிபியப் பாலைநிலம் சென்றார். பின்னர் சிசிலி சென்று, “பச்சினம்” (Pachinum) என்ற இடத்திற்கு அருகில் நீண்ட காலம் கடும் தவ வாழ்வு வாழ்ந்தார். இதற்கிடையே, இவரின் முந்தைய சீடரான “ஹெஸிச்சியஸ்” (Hesychius) இவரைத் தேடி அங்கு வந்தார்.

துறவி ஹிலாரியன் அவர்களைத் தேடி மீண்டும் மக்கள் வரத் தொடங்கினர். இதனால் தனிமையை நாடி குரோவேஷியா நாட்டின் “டல்மாஷியா” (Dalmatia) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள “எபிடாரஸ்” (Epidaurus) சென்றார். இறுதியில் “சைப்ரஸ்” (Cyprus) சென்று தனிமையான குகை ஒன்றில் வாழ்ந்து கி.பி. 371ம் ஆண்டில் இறந்தார் ஹிலாரியன். இத்தூயவரின் நினைவுத் திருவிழா அக்டோபர் மாதம், 21ம் தேதி ஆகும்.

† Saint of the Day †

(October 21)

✠ St. Hilarion ✠

Abbot, monk, mystic, and founder of Christian monasticism:

Born: 291 AD

Tabatha, south of Gaza in Syria Palaestina

Died: 371 AD

Cyprus

Venerated in:

Roman Catholic Church

Eastern Orthodox Churches

Coptic Church

Feast: October 21

Saint Hilarion was an anchorite who spent most of his life in the desert according to the example of Anthony the Great. He is considered to be the founder of Palestinian monasticism and venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.

Shortly after St. Hilarion’s death, St. Jerome wrote about the life of this hermit who had introduced monasticism into Palestine. Jerome told of Hilarion’s lifelong pursuit of solitude, where he could encounter God in prayer.

And he wrote about the divine irony of the fame that denied it to him because his miracles attracted so many people. In this brief excerpt, Jerome describes Hilarion’s faith and a typical miracle:

     Once... when he was eighteen years old, brigands tried to find him at night. Either they believed that he had something to steal or they thought he would scorn them if they didn’t intimidate him... From evening till dawn, they hunted in every direction but couldn’t find him. In the broad daylight, however, they came upon him, and apparently as a joke asked him: “What would you do if robbers attacked you?” He answered: “A naked person does not fear robbers.” “You could be killed.” “I could,” he said. “But I am not afraid of robbers because I am ready to die.” Admiring his faith, they confessed their folly of the night before and their blindness and promised to reform their lives...

     A woman of Eleutheropolis, despised by her husband of fifteen years because of her sterility, was the first who dared to intrude upon blessed Hilarion’s solitude. While he was still unaware of her approach, she suddenly threw herself at his knees saying: “Forgive my boldness... he asked her why she had come and why she was weeping. When he learned the cause of her grief, raising his eyes to heaven, he commanded her to have faith and to believe. He followed her departure with tears. When a year had gone by, he saw her with her son.

Like Anthony, Hilarion took only a little food once a day at sunset. When tempted sexually, he ate even less. “I’ll see to it, you jackass,” he said, “that you shall not kick.” He never bathed nor changed his tunic until it wore out. He said, “It is idle to expect cleanliness in a hair shirt.” Jerome relates that even though Hilarion suffered extreme dryness of spirit, he persevered in prayer and cured many people of sickness and demon possession. The parade of petitioners and would-be disciples drove Hilarion to retire to more remote locations. But they followed him everywhere. First, he visited Anthony’s retreat in Egypt. Then he withdrew to Sicily, later to Dalmatia, and finally to Cyprus. He died there in 371.

Even for saints like Hilarion who steadfastly pursued God, life is a battle of wills. Hilarion desired solitude, believing it was God’s will for him. But God had other ideas and sent crowds to disrupt his aloneness. Before we get too far along on our journey, we need to check to see if we are following God’s roadmap, not our own.

✠ புனிதர் லாரா ✠(St. Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena)அக்டோபர் 21

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(அக்டோபர் 21)

✠ புனிதர் லாரா ✠

(St. Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena)

மறைப்பணியாளர்/ நிறுவனர்:

(Religious and Founder)

பிறப்பு: மே 26, 1874

ஜெரிகோ, அன்டியோகுயியா, ஐக்கிய கொலம்பியாவின் மாகாணங்கள்

(Jericó, Antioquía, United States of Colombia)

இறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 21, 1949 (வயது 75)

பெலென்சிடோ, மெடெல்லின், அன்டியோகுயியா, கொலம்பியா

(Belencito, Medellín, Antioquía, Colombia)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: ஏப்ரல் 25, 2004

திருத்தந்தை ஜான் பவுல்

(Pope John Paul II)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: மே 12, 2013

திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ்

(Pope Francis)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 21

பாதுகாவல்:

இன பாகுபாடு காரணமாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்கள்

அனாதைகள்

மரியாவின் மாசற்ற இருதயம் சபை (Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary)

புனித சியன்னா நகர கேதரீனாவின் மறைபணியாளர் சகோதரிகள் சபை (Congregation of  Saint Catherine of Siena)

புனிதர் சியன்னா நகர கத்ரீனாவின் லாரா, ஒரு கத்தோலிக்க அருட்சகோதரி ஆவார். 1914ம் ஆண்டு, இவர் மரியாவின் மாசற்ற இதயம் (Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary), மற்றும் புனித சியன்னா நகர கேதரீனாவின் மறைபணியாளர் சகோதரிகள் (Congregation of  Saint Catherine of Siena) என்னும் துறவற சபைகளை நிறுவினார். இவர் பழங்குடி இனத்தவர்களின் உரிமைக்காக பாடுபட்டார். தென் அமெரிக்க பெண்களுக்கு இவர் ஒரு சிறந்த எடுத்துக்காட்டாக கருதப்படுகின்றார். 

“மரிய லாரா டி ஜீசஸ் மொன்டோயா யி உபெகுயி” (María Laura de Jesús Montoya Upegui) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இவர், கொலொம்பியாவின் (Colombia) “ஜெரிகோ” (Jericó) நகரில் பிறந்தார். இவரது தந்தையாரின் பெயர், "ஜுவான் டி லா க்ரூஸ் மோன்டோயா" (Juan de la Cruz Montoya) ஆகும். தாயாரின் பெயர், "டோலோரெஸ் ஊபேகுய்" (Dolores Upegui) ஆகும். இவரது பெற்றோருக்குப் பிறந்த மூன்று குழந்தைகளில் இவர் இரண்டாம் குழந்தை ஆவார்.

கி.பி. 1876ம் ஆண்டு நடந்த கொலம்பிய உள்நாட்டுப் (Colombian Civil War) போரின்போது, அவரது தந்தை கொல்லப்பட்டார். அதன் விளைவாக குடும்பத்தினர் ஏழ்மை நிலைக்குத் தள்ளப்பட்டனர். இதன் காரணமாக அவர் தாய்வழி தாத்தா பாட்டியுடன் வாழ அனுப்பப்பட்டார். கி.பி. 1881ம் ஆண்டு, நிலையற்ற பொருளாதார நிலை காரணமாக, அருட்சகோதரியான அவருடைய சித்தி "மரியா டி ஜீஸஸ் உபேகுய்" (María de Jesús Upegui) நிர்வகித்து வந்த அனாதை இல்லத்திற்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டார்.

கி.பி. 1890ம் ஆண்டு, தமது பதினாறு வயதில், ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சி பள்ளியில் சேர்த்து விடப்பட்டார். "அமால்ஃபி" (Amalfi) மற்றும் "மெடேல்லின்" (Medellín) ஆகிய நகரங்களில் கல்வி கற்றார். கி.பி. 1886ம் ஆண்டு, நோயுற்ற அத்தை ஒருவரைப் பராமரிப்பதற்காக அவரது பண்ணையொன்றில் வந்து வசிக்க ஆரம்பித்தார். அங்கேதான், தாம் ஒரு மறைப்பணியாளராக வேண்டிய விருப்பம் இவருக்கு தோன்ற ஆரம்பித்தது. கி.பி. 1893ம் ஆண்டு, மொண்டோயோ, ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சி பட்டம் பெற்றார்.

கி.பி. 1908ம் ஆண்டு, அவர் “உராபா” (Uraba) மற்றும் “சரார்” (Sarare) பிராந்தியங்களில் உள்ள மக்களுடன் இணைந்து பணியாற்றினார், அங்கே, "இந்தியர்களின் படைப்புகள்" (Works of the Indians) எனும் அமைப்பு நிறுவப்பட்டது. மொண்டோயோ, கார்மேல் சபை கன்னியாஸ்திரியாக ஆக விரும்பினார். ஆனால், கிறிஸ்துவின் அன்பை இதுவரை சந்தித்திராத மக்களுக்கு கிறிஸ்துவின் நற்செய்தியை அறிவிக்கும் ஆசையும் ஆர்வமும் அவருள் எழுந்ததை உணர்ந்தார். மொண்டோயோ, தற்போதுள்ள இனப் பாகுபாடுகளை நீக்கி, கிறிஸ்துவின் அன்பையும் போதனைகளையும் அவர்களிடம் கொண்டு வர தம்மையே அர்ப்பணிக்க விரும்பினார்.

கி.பி. 1917ம் ஆண்டு, மே மாதம், 14ம் நாளன்று, “மரியாளின் மாசற்ற இருதயம் சபை” (Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary) மற்றும் “புனித சியன்னா நகர கேதரீனாவின் மறைபணியாளர் சகோதரிகள் சபை” (Congregation of  Saint Catherine of Siena) ஆகிய இரண்டு சபைகளை நிறுவினார். நான்கு சக பெண்களுடன் “மெடல்லின்” (Medellín) நகரை விட்டு கிளம்பி, “டபெய்பா” (Dabeiba) நகரில் ஆதிவாசி இந்தியர்களுடன் வாழ சென்றார்.

இவர்களது புதிய சபைகளுக்கு “சாண்டா ஃபே டி அன்டோனியா” (Bishop of Santa Fe de Antioquia) மறைமாவட்ட ஆயரின் ஆதரவு இருந்தபோதிலும் பிற கிறிஸ்தவ குழுக்களின் விமர்சனங்களுக்கு உள்ளானது.

நீண்டகாலம் நோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்த மோண்டோயா, 1949ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், 21ம் தேதியன்று, கொலம்பியாவில் உள்ள “மெடல்லின்” (Medellín) நகரில் இறந்தார். நோய் காரணமாக, இவரது வாழ்க்கையின் கடைசி பத்து வருடங்கள், சக்கர நாற்காலியிலேயே கழிந்தது. தற்போது அவரது சபைகள், மொத்தம் பத்தொன்பது அமெரிக்கா, ஆப்பிரிக்கா, ஐரோப்பிய நாடுகளில் செயல்படுகிறது.

திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் ஜான் பவுல் 2004ம் ஆண்டு, இவருக்கு அருளாளர் பட்டம் அளித்தார். 2013ம் ஆண்டு, மே மாதம், 12ம் நாளன்று, திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ் இவருக்கு புனிதர் பட்டம் அளித்தார்.

† Saint of the Day †

(October 21)

✠ St. Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena ✠

Religious and Founder:

Born: May 26, 1874

Jericó, Antioquía, United States of Colombia

Died: October 21, 1949 (Aged 75)

Belencito, Medellín, Antioquía, Colombia

Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church

Beatified: April 25, 2004

Pope John Paul II

Canonized: May 12, 2013

Pope Francis

Feast: October 21

Patronage:

People suffering from racial discrimination

Orphans

Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and Saint Catherine of Siena

Saint Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena born María Laura de Jesús Montoya Upegui - was a Colombian Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and Saint Catherine of Siena (1914). She was well known for her work with Indigenous peoples and for acting as a strong role model for South American girls.

Laura Montoya Upegui was born on 26 May 1874 in Jericó, Antioquia, Colombia, the second of three children to Juan de la Crux Montoya and Dolores Upegui.

When Laura was only 2 years old, her father was killed defending his Country, and the family was left in extreme poverty after all their goods were confiscated. At such a time of deep misery and loss, Laura's mother gave an example of Christian forgiveness and fortitude that would remain impressed in her young daughter's mind and heart forever.

Childhood suffering, divine help:

Following her father's death, Laura was sent to live with her grandmother. She suffered greatly from misunderstandings and the lack of affection, feeling she had been left "orphaned". However, she accepted with love the sacrifices and loneliness she experienced and sought refuge in God.

As she grew older, she was especially sustained by meditation on Sacred Scripture and the strength she received from the Eucharist.

When Laura was 16, her mother decided that her daughter needed to help the family in its financial difficulties and told her to apply to become a teacher. Although Laura was culturally and academically "ignorant", having grown up without a formal education, she asked to enter the "Normale de Institutoras" of Medellín to receive training to become an elementary school teacher. She was accepted and stood out for her high marks among the students.

Called to "teach Christ':

Laura began teaching in different parts of Antioquia. She did not limit herself to educating the students simply in academic knowledge but sought to diffuse Gospel teaching and values. She also felt called to the religious life, her heart set on God alone, and dreamed of one day becoming a cloistered Carmelite nun; at the same time, though, she felt growing within her the desire to spread the Gospel to the farthest corners of the earth, to those who had never met Jesus Christ. She was ready to renounce her own "dream" of Carmel to be open to God's project if his will was otherwise.

"An Indian with the Indians':

At one time during her teaching career, Laura felt decidedly drawn to helping the Indian population in South America and wished to insert herself into their culture, to "become an Indian with the Indians to win them all for Christ". Recognizing their dignity as human beings in an epoch when they were considered by many as "wild beasts", Laura wanted to destroy this racial discrimination and to personally sacrifice herself in order to bring them Christ's love and teaching.

On 14 May 1914, she left Medellín together with four other young women and headed to Dabeiba to live among the native Indians. This new religious family, assisted by the Bishop of Santa Fe de Antioquia and known as the "Missionaries of Mary Immaculate and St Catherine of Siena", was thought by some to be nothing more than a family of "religious goats", who were heading off into the wilderness to give the "beasts" a living Gospel catechism.

Laura, however, cared little for public opinion, even if some of the comments made came right from within the Christian community itself.

Pedagogy of love:

Mother Laura composed for her "daughters" a directory and other writings (her Autobiography among them) to help them understand better their call to serve God among the Indians and to live a balance between apostolic and contemplative life. She taught by example the "pedagogy of love" as the only way to teach the Indians, the way which allowed access into their heart and culture to bring them, Jesus Christ.

Mother Laura died on 21 October 1949 in Medellín, after a long and painful illness. The last nine years of her life were lived in a wheelchair, where she continued to teach by example, word and writing.

Today her Missionary Sisters work in 19 countries throughout America, Africa and Europe.

St. Acca October 20

 St. Acca

Feastday: October 20

Birth: 660

Death: 742

Bishop and scholar, a companion of early English saints and missionaries. Acca was born in Northumbria, England, and was educated in the company of St. Bosa, a Benedictine apostle of great courage. He also met St. Wilfrid, who appointed him the abbot of St. Andrew's Monastery in Hexham, England. Acca joined St. Wilfrid as early as 678 and accompanied him to Rome in 692. When Wilfred died in 709, Acca succeeded him as the bishop of Hexham. He spent his monastic and episcopal years erecting parish churches in the area. He also introduced Christian arts and promoted learning. Acca brought a famous cantor, a man named Maban, to Hexham, and with him introduced the Roman Chants. St. Bede dedicated several of his works to Acca, who also promoted other Christian writers. For reasons undocumented, Acca was driven out of Hexham in 732. He retired to a hermitage in Withern, in Galloway. Just before his death in 742 he returned to Hexham and was unanimously revered. When he was buried, two Celtic crosses were recreated at his gravesite. One still stands in Hexham. When his body was moved sometime later, his vestments were found intact. The accounts of Acca's miracles were drawn up by St. Aelred and by the historian Simeon of Durham.

Acca of Hexham (c. 660 – 740/742) was a Northumbrian saint and Bishop of Hexham from 709 until 732.

Remnant of cross that stood at Acca's grave, Hexham Abbey

Born in Northumbria, Acca first served in the household of Bosa, the future Bishop of York, but later attached himself to Wilfrid, possibly as early as 678, and accompanied him on his travels. Later he told his friend Bede of their stay at Utrecht with the archbishop Willibrord, Wilfrid's old pupil who was carrying on his work of converting continental heathens. On the return from their second journey to Rome in 692, Wilfrid was reinstated at Hexham and made Acca abbot of St Andrew's monastery there. During Wilfrid's later years, Acca was the older man's loyal companion, eventually succeeding him in 709 as abbot and bishop.[1]

Acca tackled his duties with much energy, in ruling the diocese and in conducting the services of the church. He also carried on the work of church building and decorating started by Wilfrid. Acca was both an accomplished musician and a learned theologian. Bede describes Acca as "...a most experienced cantor, most learned in sacred writings, ...and thoroughly familiar with the rules of ecclesiastical custom."[2]

Acca once brought to the North a famous cantor named Maban, who had learned in Kent the Roman traditions of psalmody handed down from Gregory the Great through Augustine of Canterbury.[3]

Acca was also famous for his theological learning; his theological library was praised by Bede. He was known also for his encouragement of students by every means in his power. It was Acca who persuaded Stephen of Ripon (Eddius) to take on the Life of Saint Wilfrid, and he lent many materials for the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum to Bede, who dedicated several of his most important works, especially those dealing with Holy Scripture, to him.[3]

For reasons now unknown, Acca either withdrew, or was driven from, his diocese in 732. Hexham tradition says he became bishop of Whithorn in Galloway, Scotland,[4] while others claim he founded a see on the site of St Andrews, bringing with him relics collected on his Roman tour, including those of St Andrews.[5] Yet a third account states that having fallen out with the Northumbrian king, Acca went to live in exile in Ireland on a remote coast before returning to Hexham. St Andrew's Church in Aycliffe is said to have been once dedicated to Acca.[6]

Acca was buried at Hexham near the east wall of the abbey. Two finely carved crosses, fragments of one of which still remain, were erected at the head and foot of his grave.[4] He was revered as a saint immediately after his death. His body was translated at least three times: in the early 11th century, by Alfred of Westow, sacrist of Durham;[4] in 1154, at the restoration of the church, when the relics of all the Hexham saints were put together in a single shrine; and again in 1240. His feast day is 20 October. The translation of his relics is commemorated on 19 February.

The only surviving writing of Acca's is a letter addressed to Bede and printed in his works (see also Raine below).